New York, 1980: three complete strangers accidentally discover that they are identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds’ joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but it also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.

AUDIENCE APPROVAL: 87%

CRITIC APPROVAL: 94%

“Three Identical Strangers” tells a remarkable story. In fact, it tells several. It’s already extraordinary 20 minutes in, and then it goes to unexpected and yet more amazing places, like a narrative feature by a master storyteller.

But this is a documentary. Specifically, it’s about three young men in the New York area who made it into their college years without knowing that they were part of a set of triplets, adopted separately. The year was 1980, and the discovery was made when one of the triplets happened to transfer into a college where everybody seemed to recognize him. The subsequent reunion with what he assumed to be his twin resulted in press coverage … causing the third triplet to surface.

Already, this is interesting in all kinds of ways. The triplets were identical and had a lot of habits and preferences in common, similarities they played to the hilt in the midst of the media blizzard that followed. Indeed, they played up these similarities to themselves, seeming to glory in discovering their other two-thirds.